Fire Scale and Fire Coating

Soldering and Fire Scale

When copper bearing alloys like pink, yellow,
and green gold, as well as sterling silver, are heated in the presence of oxygen, oxides
form quickly, discoloring the surface of the metal. Cupric Oxide (CuO) will form a black layer on the surface of the metal,
however the discoloration can usually be dissolved in pickle. When heated
without proper fire scale protection, white gold will produce a nickel oxide that
can be very hard to remove.

Preventing Fire Scale - Fire Coating

Fire coating is the process of coating a ring with boric acid before repair
to protect the polished finish of a gold or silver piece. When heated, boric
acid will turn to a light glaze on the surface of the jewelry to protect the
metal and keep the solder from flowing where it shouldn’t. The glass-like
coating that the boric acid creates will protect the metal and prevent it from
oxidizing and discoloring the metal. However, you never fire coat
platinum alloys as it will be detrimental to the metal.

Some types of borax that are used to create a fire coat and protect from fire
scale are listed below:

Borax: borax powder or sodium borate is the most common fire coat. Borax melts at 1367° F (742° C)

Boric Acid and Alcohol: add boric acid to denatured alcohol until is stops dissolving
in the liquid. When applied, this liquid can be burned off, or simply dried
leaving a white film of protective borax on the metal.

Freeflow Flux: this is a white borax-based paste which provides substantial oxide protection. This should be used on the joints to be soldered in addition to a fire coat. It
becomes fluid at 1100° F (600° C)

Removing Fire Scale - Jewelry Pickling

You can remove fire scale by placing
the piece of jewelry or metal in the pickle. A jewelry pickle is usually a sodium bisulfate based solution that
will remove surface
oxidation. A domestic crock pot can be used to
hold and heat the pickle solution, allowing you to safely remove fire scale from
your jewelry. The pickle solution works best about 180° F (80° C).

**NOTE** These solutions are very bad for gemstones and
you should avoid letting the acid come into contact with any type of gemstone.

When you are ready to remove the boric acid, place the ring in the pickle.
The pickle will remove any trapped oxidization and the glaze created by the
boric acid, leaving the ring as good as new.